The Daring Bakers, founded by our super sexy ladies Lis and Ivonne, are here to make sure that you got enough chocolate in February. And if you di-int, then check it:

daring bakers: we knead to bake, yo

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

chocolate and butter

stirring in the egg yolks

This recipe is unbelievably simple as Daring Baker challenges go. But I tend to find elegance and beauty in simplicity. That is certainly true for this cake which involves three ingredients: chocolate, butter, and eggs. Nice. I used Callebaut for the chocolate in the cake as Dharm and Wendy instructed us to use a good quality chocolate because the flavor would be front and center in the cake.

ready to fold in the whites

into the flower pan

I accidentally over-beat the egg whites as I like to multitask and sometimes the KitchenAid mixer does its job a little too efficiently. I was worried that this would dry out my cake (I believe the texture was indeed compromised). Refusing to purchase a heart-shaped anything, I had a moment of clever thinking and grabbed my flower pan, which if cut into fourths, yields four hearts. It’s not that I don’t like hearts, but… I don’t like owning heart-shaped things because I don’t use them… because I don’t like them.

kaweah likes to hang out under the table when i bake or cook

the thermometer left a noticeable hole

Point is, I didn’t blow a dime on a heart-shaped pan just for a once a year themed baking event. Right. But the cake was not the only part of the challenge. Dharm and Wendy wanted us to pair it up with some ice cream! You know, to “lighten” the chocolate cake. Ah ha ha ha. I’ve been an ice cream-making fool ever since I got my grubby paws on the Ice Cream Bible. It’s not called the Ice Cream Bible (except in my house, it is). It’s Mr. Lebovitz’ The Perfect Scoop and I love it and I love David for writing it, because now I know what to do with all of those egg yolks after making macarons or buttercream frostings.

piping ice cream into the bombe molds

My in-laws were coming to visit the weekend after Valentine’s Day, so I thought the challenge would be a perfect dessert after dinner one night (and apparently, FIL thought it was a perfect brekkie the following morning). For the ice cream, I decided to employ my silicone bombe molds, which I *love* in an almost obsessive manner. [Edit: Bekah asked where I got these molds - these are gastroflex professional silicone molds and they ROCK. You can purchase them here.] I brushed shells of tempered dark chocolate, then I piped in vanilla bean ice cream right after it had churned in the ice cream machine so that it was still pretty soft. While that firmed up in the freezer, I baked some chocolate short dough rounds for the base. They spread way more than I anticipated, so while they were still hot, I cookie-cuttered them. Next I churned some coffee ice cream and piped that on top of the vanilla ice cream in the bombe molds. While the coffee ice cream was still soft, I pressed the short dough base on top (so it sticks). Then I let the bombes set in the freezer, but not before I smacked the molds on the counter to release any air bubbles. Of course, I realize now how utterly stupid that was since I basically cracked every top in the chocolate shell. *sigh*

chocolate short dough base

topping off the bombes

Next time I make the bombes, I am going to use chocolate and vanilla or chocolate and coffee because you can’t tell the difference between the coffee and vanilla – they are practically the same color. Still, it’s so fun to play with bombes! I have made a flourless chocolate cake before and while this one was nice, I still prefer the other recipe. But it’s always good to cut your teeth on new recipes to expand your repertoire or to at least learn. Be sure to check the glorious Daring Bakers Blogroll to see more chocolate and more ice cream from this month’s challenge. Thanks to Dharm and Wendy for hosting this month!

Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry). With the same beater beat the egg yolks together. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375°F/190°C. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140°F/60°C. Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

chocolate short doughfor the base of the bombes (you’ll have a lot leftover, so freeze it)

Sift four, cocoa, and salt together in medium bowl. Beat butter on low speed with KitchenAid stand mixer until smooth (about 1 minute). Add the egg and vanilla to the butter and beat on low until combined (scrape down sides). Add the powdered sugar and ix on low for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides. Add flour mixture and mix on low until just combined, about 15 seconds. Remove dough from bowl and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 4 hours. It can keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to a month. When ready to use, press dough into pan or roll it between plastic or parchment. It should be about 1/4 inch in thickneess. If baking in pans, line shell with parchment and pie weights. Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes (less time if small), remove pie weights and parchment. Return to oven and bake 6-10 minutes. For the rounds I made, I baked them for 8-10 minutes then removed them and cut them into shape.

When I first read this, I thought it said “darling” bakers. I thought, “Jen thinks we are darling!” Further reading corrected my first assumption. With that said, I would really like to try this cake, because it would be daring for me to do so. It’s much fancier than what I usually bake.

Oh wow. I totally need to get bombe molds, just to make that. Coffee ice cream is my absolute favorite. And I agree – heart shaped things are unitaskers, and I refuse to have them around. Sounds like the perfect breakfast to me :P

Since everyone has already used all of the great superlatives to describe your culinary creativeness, “Beautiful, stunning, tempting!, wonderful, delicious!, amazing, terrific, gorgeous”, can I just say “f-yea!” The flourless looks super tasty, even if you humbly decry it compromised. I’ll take your compromised over most other’s perfect any day. Savvy use of the pans, you clever girl. The bombes are the bomb (can’t believe I’m the first cheesy enough to say that!) Just call the cracks intentional. Artistic styling representing all of the broken hearts from Valentines. Give Kaweah a “good dog” head rub for us. Todd -WORC

Whenever you post chocolate melting and butter or cream, I want to swim in it!!
The cake and chocolate bombs rock da house chica! Beautifully executed and the crack tops only add character…kinda like a semi broken open surprise :)

Thanks for the info on the bombe mold….I went searching for the flower pan with no luck, any chance you can tell us where you got that? I also don’t own a heart shaped pan, but I think I would use a flower shaped one.

Oh, how I love the Perfect Scoop. When it first came out, I got a copy at Williams Sonoma because I couldn’t wait (the two measly days) for Amazon. Then, I got one for my dad. Then, one for a friend. At my friend’s house one day while looking through her bookcases (doesn’t everyone do that?) I discovered that her copy was hardback while mine was only a paperback. Quel horror! You’ve guessed where this is going, right? Yep, I now have 2 copies. One to read and one to destroy (I’m very messy) while actually making the recipe. In fact, tonight I made the Philadelphia-style vanilla ice cream and the salted butter caramel sauce. Yum. And truly, I don’t usually even like ice cream. I love me some David Lebovitz.

Hi, new Daring Baker here stopping by to say that wow, this looks absolutely amazing. I love your photos of the whole cake-making process. And you have a very pretty dog too! I need to go look at those silicone molds now, cuz I want some…

This is totally unrelated…. but I’m looking for a custard filling recipe for a cake, and you have made some of the most beautiful cakes I’ve seen on the internet. Plus, you explain things really well. Basically, my husband is wanting a layer cake and he specifically requested a “custard” filling. And I’m not really sure where to go with that, other than that there are hundreds of recipes out on the internet. I think he’d prefer vanilla flavored, but I’d be thankful for any pointing in the right direction.

adorable and perfect. does that mean adorably perfect? yes, i think it does. seriously, what a great presentation, and terrible tease for someone stuck at her desk on a monday morning. i want this NOW.

Have you disabled right clicks? How am I suppost to copy the recipe. What’s the point in sharing a recipe if you’re really not going to share it!? I would never take it and publish it without your permission. Please let us right click so we can use it for our own satisfaction!

Bekah – I’ve edited the post to include where to buy the bombe molds. You’re welcome dear, and thanks for your comments!

Tartelette – most people want to eat the melting chocolate, except for you… You want to SWIM in it?! :) crackpot! That’s why I love you so…

Lisa@TCEoO – Oh hon, I got this flower pan many many years ago at Williams-Sonoma and I have been unable to find another one like it (I wanted to get one for my MIL a few years ago). You can contact them and see if they have any more or know where to get them. It’s really nice – removable bottom. Best of luck!

Kelly – I’ll see what I can dig up!

Katie – hopefully the simple solution I emailed you will work. In the meantime, no need to get your panties in a wad.

While perusing the site you posted for the bombe molds – WOW! I could spend a lot of $ there! – I found petal pans similar to the one you used for this. They don’t seem to have a removable bottom and are in a set for making multi tiered cakes, but if someone was really desperate for a petal pan . . .

Wow, you really met this challenge in a big way. I’m loving what you did with the chocolate short dough
base for the bombes, too. I’ll have to give that a try. Thank you for sharing that detail as well as the recipe.

I recently discovered your blog and it is absolutely amazing! I know this is quite a time ago, but I just had a question to ask concerning the bombes. Were they easy to slide out of the molds or did you have to do anything special to them? Like I know most people line molds with cling wrap for easy removal later or if there were a removable bottom, etc so I was wondering how you were able to remove the chocolates from the mold or the silicone made it that easy to remove? Love your blog!

Jessica – The silicone molds are really nice because you just *carefully* invert them (push the mold inside out gently) and the bombe will pop out. Just watch that it doesn’t fly out (some of mine have been near disasters, they pop out so fast). Don’t line with plastic, it will make it look worse than if you just use the silicone bombe molds.

Do you have other bomb recipes that you use? I recently got some of the semi circle molds and want to use them to the fullest capacity. I made the German Chocolate Bombs and am hooked. I love the ice cream idea!